Need handfeeding help

[finchman]

I have a pair of societies that have raised a gouldian since it was born. The chick fledged 4-5 days ago and the societies seem to have stopped feeding it. I have never hand fed a finch before (pigeons yes) and don't want to aspirate. I have the necessary syringe with tube and formula. Do I run the tube down into the crop like with a pigeon? Also, how many ml does a fledgling finch crop hold? And finally, how many times per day do I need to feed it? Thanks in advance!

[Arama]

lovezebs Babs

I am of no help but hopefully tagging these fine ladies who have experience with this will get you a quicker answer. I know theres others but these two I know have hand fed gouldians.

[Babs _Owner]

finchman

First make sure the parents arent feeding. Check the crop. They slow way down on feeding them when weaning......so even a little bit in the crop means he's being fed.

Dont force feed. Wipe formula on his mouth until you can get him to beg. The just put a few drops in the back of it mouth if he opens up til he gets used to the flavor (this can take over a day).

You dont crop feed like a pigeon. Just let the baby swallow. A bit at a time. I hope he will decide to open up for you

I use an eye dropper, not a tube. Be persistant. Keep trying every 15 minutes/ half hour.

If he starts to regularly take the formula. 1/2 ml, let him breathe do another 1/2. about 4 times a day until weaned. Keep him in cage with parents so he learns to feed himself. I dont feed them heavy when they are weaning.

Keep us posted.

[Sally]

I haven't hand fed in such a long time that I can't remember how much food a fledgling will take at one time. Even with a fully-feathered baby, you should be able to see the crop expand as you inject food with the syringe. Never give so much food that the crop is larger than the head of the baby. Yes, that is how I use a syringe, into the crop, but as Babs has said, it is sometimes easier and safer to just put food in their mouth and let them swallow it. That is why I like using a banding tool, they lick the food off the banding tool, so it is a much safer but slower way to hand feed. It is so much easier when you have to start when they are younger and naked, as you can see the tube going into the crop. Fledged babies are often very reluctant to open their beaks for feeding too.

[debbie276]

I use a banding tool and don't feed directly into the crop though I believe there are some on here that do. Actually at this age crop feeding is probably the safest way because they fear you now and don't Co-operate well. If they are not begging and you force food on them they may aspirate.
Wish I could help more, good luck

[debbie276]

Found an article that may be of help from The Finch Information Center.
http://www.finchinfo.com/breeding/handfeeding.php

Keep in mind that gouldians fledge around 23-23 days and wean around 42 days old. So mix formula and feed accordingly.

[finchman]

I use a banding tool and don't feed directly into the crop though I believe there are some on here that do. Actually at this age crop feeding is probably the safest way because they fear you now and don't Co-operate well. If they are not begging and you force food on them they may aspirate.
Wish I could help more, good luck

This is what I ended up doing (crop feeding), just afraid to hurt the little guy/gal. Getting I to open wasn't difficult, it was trying to bite the heck out of me as I was doing it. Saw him/her pecking the spray millet but didn't seem to get anything to eat. I felt the crop before feeding and didn't feel anything. We'll see what happens....

[finchman]

I only gave 2 ml for fear of over filling. Should I do more?

[Babs _Owner]

finchman

Sounds like you did great! I would wait a few hours for the next feeding.

[debbie276]

Here's an other article from a handfeeding formula company how to crop feed/tube feed
http://lafeber.com/vet/tube-feeding-birds/

[finchman]

debbie276 Sally Babs OK here's the update. I set up a baby monitor on the cage (wife loved that), and watched. The father does seem to be feeding the baby but is only doing so for 1-2 seconds at a time. Is this normal? Baby is still going nuts mouth open, begging anytime they come near. Mom is ignoring him. I felt his crop before bed and it felt completely empty to me, so I crop fed 4 ml to him. I'm worried I'm stressing him out but also worried he isn't getting fed much of anything. With him being the only one I would think he would have a full crop and not be constantly begging. I do have some other societies but they are young and haven't reared chicks yet. Thought of putting one in to help out but afraid it might make the situation worse. Thoughts?

[Sally]

It doesn't take the parents long to feed babies, they are a lot quicker than we are. And it is normal for a baby to beg every time one of the parents comes near. Society babies wean a lot faster than Gouldians, it is one of the problems with using Societies to foster Gouldians, as sometimes they stop feeding too soon.

4ml seems like an awful lot of food, but then I haven't hand fed in a long time, and I was used to feeding waxbills, which took a lot less food.

[Babs _Owner]

finchman

When I hand fed and my youngsters were being weaned, I fed no more than 1 ml 4x a day. They have to learn to find the millet , seed and water. And they need to be a bit hungry to encourage foraging.

I have 4 healthy happy gouldians that weaned just fine on that amount.

Most important feedings are morning (they are dehydrated from sleeping all night), and evening (to get them through to morning).

When they start actively eating millet cut it to 3x a day. When they are eating a lot of millet they are looking more for moisture from your feedings. When they start drinking water they should suddenly refuse feedings on their own.